Alliance Defending Freedom: How do you measure a year? By moments remembered? Milestones passed? Accomplishments or setbacks? For myself, I like to measure the turning of the calendar by results, not just activity … by what has changed over these last 12 months … by what difference, great or small, our Alliance Defending Freedom has been able to make this year in the lives of the people we serve.

Townhall: When I awoke on the 22nd of March, I fired up the coffee maker and turned on my iPhone as I prepared to catch up on my reading and my emails. I was less than halfway into my 90-minute daily reading ritual when I noticed that the phone was “dinging” at a brisker-than-usual pace. For some reason, I was getting a lot of emails on that beautiful Saturday morning. When I finally picked up the phone to check my inbox, I noticed that several dozen emails had the following subject line: God’s Not Dead!

Town Hall: Author’s Note: This is the sixth column in a series. The first five installments, “This is Providence,” “Pharisees and Pharaohs,” “Prayers and Preparation,” “Pride and Perjury,” and “David French Slays Goliath” can be accessed in my column archive. Some of the themes discussed in this series were also part of a speech I gave at an Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) event in July.

Townhall: This is the fifth column in a series. The first four installments, “This is Providence,” “Pharisees and Pharaohs,” “Prayers and Preparation,” and “Pride and Perjury” can be accessed in my column archive. Some of the themes discussed in this series were also part of a speech I gave at an Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) event in July.

Townhall: This is the fourth column in a series. The first three installments, “This is Providence,” “Pharisees and Pharaohs,” and “Prayers and Preparation,” can be accessed in my column archive. Some of the themes discussed in this series were also part of a speech I gave at an Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) event in July.

Town Hall: Author’s Note: This is the third column in a series. The first two installments, “This is Providence,” and “Pharisees and Pharaohs,” can be accessed in my column archive. Some of the themes discussed in this series were also part of a speech I gave at an Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) event in July. The full speech can be viewed by clicking on this link.

Townhall: This is the second column in a series. The last installment, “This is Providence,” can be accessed in my column archive. Some of the themes discussed in this series were also part of a speech I gave at an Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) event in July. The full speech can be viewed by clicking this link.

The College Fix: “It’s encouraging that we are seeing courts uphold this fundamental First Amendment freedom in the places where some of the greatest ideas and movements in history have been birthed,” Kerri Kupec, a spokeswoman for Alliance Defending Freedom, said in an email to The College Fix.

One News Now: “They’re going to promote Dr. Adams to the full professor position he was unlawfully denied seven years ago,” he tells OneNewsNow. “They’re going to pay him $50,000 in back pay, they’re going to adopt some procedures to protect him from further retaliation in the upcoming years, and they’re going to pay attorneys fees.”

The Washington Times: “The university has chosen the right course in opting to stop defending its unconstitutional actions, to right the wrong done to Dr. Adams by granting him the promotion he has long deserved, and to protect him against future retaliation,” said Travis Barham, attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the professor.

The Christian Post: One final note: I’d like to thank our co-counsel in the case, the Alliance Defending Freedom, and particularly Travis Barham, the ADF attorney who put in hundreds of hours defending Dr. Adams’s constitutional rights. Outstanding work, Travis and ADF.

Campus Reform: “The important aspect is [the outcome of the case] reaffirms the basic principle of the First Amendment,” Alliance for Defending Freedom (ADF) Litigation Staff Counsel Travis Barham told Campus Reform. “Universities have to treat Christian and conservative professors fairly; otherwise there will be consequences.”

The College Fix: “The outcome of this case reaffirms that public universities must respect the First Amendment freedoms of their professors regardless of the viewpoints they express,” stated attorney Travis Barham, who represented Adams on behalf of Alliance Defending Freedom.

National Review: One final note: I’d like to thank our co-counsel in the case, the Alliance Defending Freedom, and particularly Travis Barham, the ADF attorney who put in hundreds of hours defending Dr. Adams’s constitutional rights. Outstanding work, Travis and ADF.

Alliance Defending Freedom: Criminology professor Dr. Mike Adams’ seven-year quest to vindicate his First Amendment freedoms concluded with a settlement in his favor Tuesday. In March, a federal jury ruled that the University of North Carolina–Wilmington illegally retaliated against Adams when it denied him a promotion in 2006 because of his conservative views.

CNS News: A criminology professor who successfully sued the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) for denying him a promotion because of his conservative and Christian views has been awarded over $700,000 in legal fees.

“… The fact is that the case is not yet over. All the judge did was rule on attorneys’ fees,” he explains. “UNC-Wilmington has still appealed the case – and so until they drop that appeal and decide that a seven-year campaign is long enough to try to deny a professor his First Amendment freedoms, then we will continue to defend Dr. Adams vigorously.”

The New American: A judge has ordered the University of North Carolina-Wilmington to pay over $700,000 in legal bills incurred by a Christian criminology professor who waged an eight-year battle against the school’s campaign of retaliation because of his conservative and religious views.

Star News Online: “UNCW has spent seven years fighting a scorched earth legal battle to deny one professor a promotion that he is rightfully due and now that’s going to cost the taxpayers $700,000,” said Travis Barham, one of Adams’ attorneys. “It’s time for this end.”

Alliance Defending Freedom: A federal court Tuesday ordered the University of North Carolina–Wilmington to pay $710,626.50 in the wake of a seven-year lawsuit that Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys won on behalf of criminology professor Dr. Mike Adams. In April, the court ordered UNCW to grant Dr. Adams a promotion denied to him in 2006 because of his conservative views and pay him back pay.

One News Now: UNCW is appealing the jury verdict that in part said Criminology Professor Mike Adams’ First Amendment rights were denied. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorney Travis Barham explains that the school discriminated against Adams because of his biblical viewpoint.

The Washington Times: Travis Barham, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom who helped represent Mr. Adams, pointed out that a federal judge has not yet issued an award in the case. The university’s notice of intent to appeal filed May 7 also doesn’t mention costs, although the UNCW press release focuses on the prospective hit to taxpayers.

Slate: “Despite my distaste for Adams’ dumb ideas about feminism, diversity, and homosexuality, I’m glad that Adams sued the university, and am delighted that last month he won, in an important ruling that (for now) preserves a vestige of academic freedom in this country.” Slate author, despite disagreement with Mike Adams, agrees that it was right for him to fight for his academic freedom.

News Observer: “Like Nichol, Mike Adams, who writes a column for the conservative website Townhall.com, does not mince words. Writing with sarcasm and barbed humor, he attacks feminists, advocates of gun control and other liberal targets. He does not hesitate to write pointedly about administrators at UNCW. Certain that the university denied his promotion because he had expressed unpopular views, Adams sued UNCW in 2007. His lawsuit, supported by the Alliance Defending Freedom, argued that when he was an atheist and a liberal, his department praised and promoted him, but when his views changed, he lost favor and was denied promotion in retaliation for his columns. He has been conducting this lawsuit for seven years.”

The New American: “ADF attorney Travis Barham said after the ruling that ‘as the marketplace of ideas, universities must respect the freedom of professors to express their points of view. The jury found that disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for denying him a promotion. The court’s order rights the wrong done to Dr. Adams by granting him the full professorship he has long deserved.’”

OneNewsNow: “‘Officials within the university did not like the conservative and Christian viewpoints that he expressed in his column, in his books, in his speeches,’ the attorney explains. ‘And because they didn’t like those conservative and Christian viewpoints, they denied him a promotion that he rightfully deserved.’”

Patriot Post: “This week, a U.S. District judge followed up on that verdict, ordering UNCW to promote Adams and provide $50,000 in back pay in what many are calling a ‘landmark anti-discrimination case.’ Eight years ago, the university’s sociology department turned down Adams’s application for promotion, despite a folio of awards, student recommendations, 125 speaking appearances, and 11 published peer-review articles. It was the first time, his attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom pointed out, that a professor with that many peer-reviewed pieces had ever been denied promotion at the Department level.”

Christian News Network: “‘They concluded that the University of North Carolina-Wilmington retaliated against Dr Adams by denying him a promotion in 2006 and they retaliated against him because they did not like the views he expressed in his books and columns and speeches,’ Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorney Travis Barham explained to reporters following the verdict. ‘Basically, they didn’t like what he said in his own time.’”

Washington Times: “‘To our knowledge, this is the first court to rule that a university unlawfully retaliated against a conservative professor for his views, award him back pay, and order the university to promote him to the position he was wrongfully denied,’ said lawyer Travis Barham of the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, which also represented Mr. Adams.”

WND: “‘This is a great day not only for Dr. Adams but for all who value academic freedom,’ said Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which, along with the American Center for Law and Justice, represented Adams.”

Charisma News: “‘As the marketplace of ideas, universities must respect the freedom of professors to express their points of view,’ says Alliance Defending Freedom litigation staff counsel Travis Barham. ‘The jury last month found that disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for denying him a promotion. The court’s order rights the wrong done to Dr. Adams by granting him the full professorship he has long deserved.’”

The College Fix: “‘We are grateful that the jury … reaffirmed the fundamental principle that universities are a marketplace of ideas, not a place where professors face retaliation for having a different view than university officials,’ attorney Travis Barham said at the time. ‘As the jury decided, disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for denying him a promotion.’”

A federal court Tuesday ordered the University of North Carolina–Wilmington to promote a professor to the rank of full professor, a position it originally denied him, and to pay him $50,000 in back pay. In March, a jury found that university officials had retaliated against criminology professor Dr. Mike Adams for expressing conservative views in his opinion columns, books, and speeches when those officials denied him a promotion in 2006.

The Daily Tar Heel: “Adams was defended by attorney Travis Barham from the Alliance for Defending Freedom, a Christian nonprofit. ‘We are grateful that the jury today reaffirmed the fundamental principle that universities are a marketplace of ideas,’ Barham said.”

Tony Perkins at The Patriot Post: “After hearing the details, our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom agreed to represent Mike, and together they embarked on a seven year journey to right the University’s wrong. Last week, after winding through the appeals process, Mike Adams finally got the news he was waiting for.”

Steven Adkins at the University Herald: “In a statement, Barham said that the team is thankful to jury. With the verdict, the jury reaffirmed the fundamental principle that universities are a place where ideas are shared and exchanged and not a place, where professors face retaliation for possessing a different view than school officials.”

Dave Bohon at The New American: “In 2007 Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative legal advocacy group, filed suit against the university on behalf of Adams, arguing that Adams was denied the well-deserved promotion because a nationally syndicated opinion column he wrote took the wrong viewpoint on religious and political issues.”

Christian News: “‘We are grateful that the jury today reaffirmed the fundamental principle that universities are a marketplace of ideas, not a place where professors face retaliation for having a different view than university officials,’ stated Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Litigation Staff Counsel Travis Barham, who represented UNC professor Mike Adams at the trial this week.”

WORLD: ‘We are grateful that the jury today reaffirmed the fundamental principle that universities are a marketplace of ideas, not a place where professors face retaliation for having a different view than university officials,’ said Travis Barham, staff counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. ‘As the jury decided, disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for denying him a promotion.’”

WorldNetDaily: “‘We are grateful that the jury today reaffirmed the fundamental principle that universities are a marketplace of ideas, not a place where professors face retaliation for having a different view than university officials,’ said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Travis Barham, who participated in the trial this week. ‘As the jury decided, disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for denying him a promotion.’”

David French at National Review: “Full disclosure: I had the privilege of serving as lead counsel in the trial (I’m a senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice), aided by my friend and capable co-counsel Travis Barham from the Alliance Defending Freedom.”

OneNewsNow: “‘They doctored his record, they misrepresented what he had accomplished, and they denied him a promotion simply because they did not like the things that he had said,’ explains ADF attorney Travis Barham.”

Mark Tapscott at The Washington Examiner: “The Alliance Defending Freedom and the American Center for Law and Justice won a significant victory in a North Carolina court this week for restoring the maxim’s equal application on campus.”

Robby Soave at The Daily Caller: “‘This is an incredibly important victory for the First Amendment,’ said Travis Barham, an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom, in a statement to Campus Reform. ‘To be able to speak freely without retaliation is a principle that should be a reality on campus and the jurors reassured that.’”

The Raw Story: “Adams said he would push for the University of North Carolina system to establish a center for student rights, similar to watchdog groups for black or LGBT students, to protect conservative and Christian students. . . . Adams was represented in his lawsuit by the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom organization.”

ACLJ: “In Greenville, North Carolina, a jury in federal court found that the University of North Carolina-Wilmington violated criminology professor Mike Adams’ free speech rights when it denied his application for promotion to full professor. The ACLJ represents Dr. Adams, along with Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Travis Barham.”

A jury issued a verdict Thursday that found the University of North Carolina–Wilmington retaliated against one of its professors for his views. Last year, a federal court found sufficient evidence to warrant a trial after an appeals court determined that the First Amendment protects the views criminology professor Dr. Mike Adams published in opinion columns with which university officials disagreed.

Charisma News: “Alliance Defending Freedom litigation staff counsel Travis Barham will be available for media interviews at the end of each day of the trial. Lead counsel David French, who began the case with Alliance Defending Freedom and now litigates for the American Center for Law and Justice, will also be available for interviews.”

CBN News: “‘Universities are supposed to be a marketplace of ideas, not a place where professors face retaliation for having a different view than the university officials,’ attorney Travis Barham, with the Alliance Defending Freedom, said.”

The Global Dispatch: “‘Universities are supposed to be a marketplace of ideas, not a place where professors face retaliation for having a different view than university officials,’ says Litigation Staff Counsel Travis Barham of Alliance Defending Freedom, which filed a lawsuit against the university on behalf of Dr. Mike Adams, a criminology professor.”

Christian Post: “‘Universities are supposed to be a marketplace of ideas, not a place where professors face retaliation for having a different view than university officials,’ says Litigation Staff Counsel Travis Barham of Alliance Defending Freedom, which filed a lawsuit against the university on behalf of Dr. Mike Adams, a criminology professor.”

WECT.com: “No university should refuse promotion to an accomplished professor simply because it disagrees with his religious and political views,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Vice President Jordan Lorence. The group is representing Adams in his lawsuit.

Travis C. Barham at Speak Up Movement: After over six years of litigation, Mike Adams has won the right to present his retaliation case to a jury of his peers. Back in 2006, he was denied promotion to full professor at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

One News Now: David French, senior counsel with Alliance Defense Fund, says the Fourth Circuit’s overturning of that ruling is good for the educational community. “We’re extremely pleased by this decision,” says the attorney. “It vindicates academic freedom not only for Dr. Adams, but for all professors; and it reestablishes the principle that the university is a marketplace of ideas. [Alert editor: Note to the reader - David French is now legal counsel with the ACLJ]

David Moshman at the Huffington Post: Adams appealed the summary judgment with the support of the Alliance Defense Fund, the American Association of University Professors, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. On April 6 the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed with respect to Adams’ First Amendment claim, ruling that the First Amendment did apply to the speech in question and so the case must go to trial.

Mike Adams at Townhall: Some told us we should just give up. Others told us we should simply accept the federal judge’s decision and resign ourselves to the fact that the First Amendment is now dead on our college campuses. But the Alliance Defense Fund took my case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in January. And, last week, they issued a landmark defense of First Amendment rights for faculty at public colleges and universities. For the first time in years, I’m getting love mail from liberals.

Christian Post: The ruling is a huge win for Adams and French. “The 4th Circuit’s decision is a ringing vindication of the academic freedom of public university professors,” French stated. “Disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for refusing him promotion.”

The Chronicle of Higher Education: David A. French, who, as senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, helped represent Mr. Adams in the case, on Wednesday cheered the Fourth Circuit’s ruling as “a ringing victory for academic freedom,” with language that “is very clear, and not only binding in the Fourth Circuit but, I hope, quite persuasive to the other circuits.” The ruling “deals a real blow to the idea that professors’ speech is somehow wholly owned by the university. It is not,” said Mr. French, whose organization, an Arizona-based alliance of Christian lawyers and like-minded groups, took up the case partly because Mr. Adams had accused the university of religious discrimination.

Inside Higher Ed: David French, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, issued a statement calling Wednesday’s decision “a ringing vindication of the academic freedom of public university professors. Disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for refusing him promotion. Opinion columns are among the purest examples of free speech protected by the First Amendment.”

One News Now: ADF senior counsel David French argued before the court on Adams’ behalf. “Christian professors should not be discriminated against because of their beliefs,” French states, “and this decision thoroughly upholds that principle.” French calls the circuit court’s decision “a ringing vindication” of the academic freedom of public university professors.

Latest Posts

ADF Media: Alliance Defending Freedom asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit Monday to hear the case of Pennsylvania’s Geneva College, which is challenging a three-judge panel’s ruling that would force the Christian school to provide access to abortion pills as required by an Obama administration mandate.

Christian Examiner: Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Kristen Waggoner, who represented Stutzman, said the judgment is just the “first punch,” financially. She expressed concerns that the ACLU, which is representing Ingersoll and Freed, will attempt to “financially devastate” Stutzman’s business and personal assets — including her retirement and personal savings.

PJ Media: Lawyers for the Alliance Defending Freedom argued that excluding worship services from “a broadly available public forum” discriminates against religion. The church, which has outgrown its own building, needs more space for special occasions and the nearby public school is the only place large enough that they can afford.